poured out black as night which was expected. The head had a brown lacing to it. Dark malts and coffee were right up front on the smell, with oat overtones coming through as it warmed. Coffee was in the taste too with a little bit of hops to even it out. Very good brew in my opinion with a heavy mouthfeel.

T. Plenty of roasted malt, chocolate and coffee. I nice shot of lingering hop bitterness kicks in to clean things up. Sort of reminds me of Old Rasputin.

M. Creamy and thick with minimal carbonation.

O. My first Hoppin Frog - call me impressed. This is a big beer that still drinks easily given its ABV and size. Makes for a nice sipper on a cool spring evening. I wish I had access to this around here.

A - Jet black with the slightest hint of deep burgundy around the bottom edges and a slim yet creamy burnt mocha head that reduced to a delicate web of lacing.

S - Complex RIS nose, though not as overwhelming on the coffee or chocolate, which is typical of the style. Instead, the olfactory is greeted with licorice and molasses notes, oatmeal, leather and earthy hop notes. A waft of alcohol also pushes its way through.

T - Neither coffee nor chocolate really stand out in the flavor, either. However, there is a hint of tangy dark fruit, sweet tobacco and licorice notes, and a subtle alcohol presence. Finishes with a hint of earthy hops and semi-sweet chocolate, which add a nice dose of bitterness to the mix.

M - Full-bodied with a smooth, oily yet chewy texture. Plenty of alcohol warmth on the palate, although it doesn't overwhelm at all. finishes with moderate hop bitterness on the palate.

D - B.O.R.I.S. is definitely one of the best of its kind in America, no doubt about it. Goes down quite easily for being an almost 10% monster! However, I will say that I enjoyed this slightly more from the bottle than on tap, although I never reviewed the bottle version. I'll have to get on that... pronto!

S= 4.0 Lots of dark ester, dark cherry, fig and it has a certain roasted sweetness as well. A light alcohol presence T= 4.0 Dark cherry! Mmm lots of dark fruit and sweetness upfront the flows so smoothly to creamy chewy finish. Medium finishing bitters that seems to coat your mouth for a good while. Very nice beer

F= 4.5 really creamy feel. Very chewy beer.

D= 4.5 this is one of those really rare beers that you could drink everyday for your entire life and not get tired of it. Great beer and it holds a flame against some of the greats, but is shadowed by its big brother the bourbon barrel Boris which is a life beer.

I split this one with my wife. Poured into a pint glass the beer is jet black with a smallish tan head.

I liked the aggressive aroma of darkly roasted malts, baker’s chocolate, a bit of coffee and toffee.

I was kind of surprised the alcohol is almost nonexistent in the taste. There are heavily roasted malts, dark fruits (plums and raisins), sweet oatmeal, coco, and molasses. It’s all there and it all works. Its rich and roasty on the best way.

The beer has a substantial and thick mouth. Just a great beer that I will purchase again.

Poured from the bottle into a pint glass. Pure walnut opaqueness dark as brown can get on the body without being black. This really nice borderline thick syrup pour also. Head is really tiny maybe a finger at most, but a great coffee espresso color looking head with tight bubbles. Leaves about 2mm collar throughout the glass for a good while. Minimal lacing.

Toasty oats and malt, with faint milk chocolate on the nose. Very nice smelling. This has to be the only Oatmeal Imperial stout beer I've whiffed that actually smells like it has oats in it. Love the bouquet feels like that malt shake is coming.

As for taste, big chocolate boom, and mild carbonation. Expansive feel in the back palate of an thick anisette aftertaste with a not to big alcohol heat but noticeable.

Pretty good mix of flavors and feel. I'd have again, another winner for drinkability from Hoppin' Frog.

Appearance: BORIS pours a very dark black with brown highlights around the edges, and it is capped off with a very thin head that dissipated quite quickly and left minimal lacing.Smell: The nose starts off with plenty of roasted grain, coffee, bitter chocolate, and some oat flakes coming in nicely as well.Taste: The flavor profile is much more pronounced than the smell with big flavors of roasted malt, espresso, bitter chocolate, oats, and a thick dark fruit quality as well.Mouthfeel: The oats make this RIS one of the smoothest stouts with this much alcohol that you will find. The warming alcohol kicks in after only a few drinks in this thick and chewy sipper.Drinkability: This beer is delicious and very easy to drink.

Better head and nose on this beer and it would be one of my highest rated beers out there, but the flavor profile to me was awesome and I will be buying this beer again.

Appearance: When poured out of the bottle it looked almost like a blacker then black syrup. The head retention was a little bit disappointing but otherwise looks good.

Smell: A fruity sweet smell but not like you might expect. It actually has more of a raisin (dried fruit smell). I realize that doesn't sound appealing but it is actually a good smell. There is a little roasted scent but nothing extremely noticeable.

Taste: There is an initial taste of alcohol but not too much. Then a nice roasted taste appears followed by a little sweetness to balance the roasted taste. Leaves a pleasant dry bitterness as an aftertaste.

Note: Even though it looked like syrup with little head, the carbonation was actually pretty good. This was not as toasted as I expected (flavor wise) but it was a really good beer.

I've been seeing this one on the shelves since I moved to this part of the country and I had yet to even pick this one up. Finally did it, and I'm kicking myself for waiting so long. This beer was great and I feel it lives up to the positive hype. Review is from notes taken on 10/2/2010 and poured from the bottle to a tulip.

Appearance: Pour just looks thick and oily and is darkest brown, like Hershey's syrup or fresh brewed coffee; no head whatsoever, just 3 tiny dark tan spots floating on the surface; body is entirely opaque; only a couple of spots of lacing stick around and even they eventually slip back into the drink.

Smell: Nice! Lots of dark syrupy chocolate (again, like Hershey's); some dark and sweet cherries are lying in the back; a tall, dry oaty scent definitely lingers in the back as well; bit of a dank and musty scent in there as well, but not like it's a bad thing; nice and dark and some burnt roastiness as well; nose is very robust and I feel like I'm finally getting what I'm looking for in an RIS after a few disappointments as of late.

Taste: Love it! Finally an RIS that is what it claims to be! Lots of thick, syrupy and dark chocolate and a bit of a dry, cocoa powder aspect; nice dark cherry sweetness is followed by a nice roastiness from some dark/burnt malted barley; definite warming presence of alcohol throughout and there is a bit of a carmalized sugar aspect as it continues to warm.

Mouthfeel: Body is syrupy and thick, albeit a little bit slick; carbonation is really a non-factor due to the viscosity; a thick, moist and sticky coating is left holding hard to the roof of the mouth; belly is left warm from the big ABV.

Drinkability: One word comes to mind when I think back fondly to this beer: THICK. This beer is great and lives up to the hype! Big and heavy ABV does knock it down a bit, but this is a great beer for a cooler/cold night and I will definitely be picking some up to age for a bit, but don't let it fool you, it could be enjoyed anytime.